Evolutionary Rate Variation In Old World Monkey Genomes

Main Category: Genetics
Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry;  Veterinary
Article Date: 04 Mar 2009 - 7:00 PDT

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How fast genomes of different species accumulate nucleotide changes, or 'evolutionary rates', is of great interest to many fields of evolutionary biology. Here we have analyzed evolutionary rates of several Old World monkeys, a group of monkeys closely related to humans and apes.

The four monkeys we studied, rhesus macaque, baboon, grivet and colobus monkey, are genetically speaking as different from each other as the four well-known hominoids - human, chimpanzee, gorilla and orangutan.

By adding Old World monkeys to existing data on hominoids, we can better understand primate genome evolution.

Royal Society Journal Biology Letters

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of the journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org

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